March 1997

Rob SchneidermanKeepin In The GrooveReservoir

Were it not so well recorded and its date and personnel not indicated on the tray back it would be easy to believe that this session by pianist Schneiderman, bassist Rufus Reid, and drummer Akira Tana was discovered on an unissued tape from the mid-1950s. Indeed, the impression sustained throughout this date is that of a Bud Powell-inspired pianist playing his heart out in a small, unpretentious jazz club to the backing of a swinging rhythm team. As a matter of fact, only a few days before the January 1996 taping the trio had concluded a week's engagement at Zinno's Restaurant in Greenwich Village, thereby assuring a glitch-free, first-take-only rundown of the tunes at Rudy Van Gelder's studio. The chosen playlist, inclusive of Bud's "Keepin' In The Groove," Cleanhead Vinson's "Four," Dameron's "On A Misty Night," Brownie's "Daahoud," Dizzy's "Bebop," Eddie Harris' "Deacceleration," and the leader's "Tugboat," certainly works to enhance this illusion, and it is only Shorter's "This Is For Albert" that reminds us of a slightly later period.